Latest UK Manifesto - AAA Ratings

[Ognir]

screw the people of the UK

General election 2010: which party will have 'AAA' policies for the economy?

On April 11 1979 Mrs Thatcher launched her election campaign with a barnstorming speech about monetary policy. According to the BBC at the time, reporters were more intrigued at the possibility of a woman prime minister than the fineries of spending cuts, but the Iron Lady's plans for an economic revolution resonated with the British public and delivered her the keys to Downing Street.

Three decades on, as on the Conservative Party attempts to wrestle power back from Labour , the economy is once again the central battleground. By the beginning of 1979, two years of recession had descended into the chaos of the "winter of discontent", and the last throes of Jim Callaghan's government.

A generation on, Britain has just endured a two-year financial maelstrom and, again, the electorate is united by concern for the economy: is the national debt dangerous or not? How will a credit rating downgrade impact? Should the Government keep spending or not? Can the Financial Services Authority prevent another banking crisis? Where will economic growth come from?

The political parties have three months to explain their solutions and provide some answers.

All three main parties are letting loose their biggest beasts: for the Government, the Chancellor Alistair Darling is backed by the silver-tongued Lord Mandelson; for the Conservatives, George Osborne has the indomitable former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke; while the Liberal Democrats have their trump card and Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable.

The parties are also keen to surround themselves with business backers. Last week the Tories announced a list of supporters , lead by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of easyJet.

So far in the unofficial election campaign, the parties have sketched out their positions but have been reluctant to commit to detail. Each has recognised that global events could shift and make carefully articulated policies look out of date.

A few weeks ago, the Government's banker bonus tax seemed radical; by the time President Barack Obama unveiled his proposals to ban investment banks from half their activities, it seemed rather inadequate. George Osborne moved too fast and backed Obama; Lord Mandelson was less hasty, recognising that the potential fallout on Wall Street could represent a big opportunity for the City. Osborne rowed back, but Cable swung behind Obama.

Fiscal policy will be the real minefield. A rapid change in market confidence has suddenly pushed Greece to the edge of a financial abyss – and exposed the fragility of Britain's financial position too. The debt markets absorbed £25bn of debt last year but that was with support from quantitative easing (QE) and the part-nationalised banks. But how will the debt markets cope with eight times the volume of gilts, particularly now QE has been put on hold?

Last week, the Tories vowed to defend Britain's AAA-credit rating to ensure macroeconomic stability. In doing so, Osborne offered a signal of intent to the gilt-markets about the all-important cuts. But his desire to skip the vote-losing specific cuts wasn't lost either – and the net result has left both the markets and the electorate still unsure about the party's policies.

But the problem of how to deal with the £178bn national deficit will, over the next few weeks, offer the electorate its biggest choice. Labour has announced plans to halve the deficit within four years, by a combination of spending cuts, tax rises, and existing tax receipts that the Government thinks will rise as the economy grows. It has argued that fiscal stimulus packages must stay in place to help the country get back on its feet. Or as Lord Mandelson put it: "This is the paradox of government thrift. We learned about it in the 1930s. It seems to be totally lost on the Conservative Party."

But a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) this week said that deep spending cuts would come irrespective of which party won at the polls, as much as £47bn under Labour and £57bn under the Conservatives.

But the politicians are keen to shift the focus away from cuts towards the more palatable growth policies. All three main parties have made similar promises on stimulating private enterprise and job creation.

Labour has talked about building on the fragile economic recovery by stimulating private sector growth through public spending and targeted schemes to tackle the continuing problems with bank lending and encourage investment and exports.

The Conservatives have emphasised taxation and regulation. They've stated that they will lower the smaller rate of corporation tax from 21pc to 20pc as part of a broader policy to make Britain the most competitive in the G20 for company taxation. They have also argued that finding efficiencies will help: others aren't as convinced that this is possible.

But for all the politicians' efforts, business groups say their biggest wish is for stability.

Phil Orford, chief executive of the Forum of Private Business, said: "Business owners need a period of stability and certainty."

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, agreed but also called for measures that would encourage businesses to grow. "There is a real issue about how we are going to stimulate business and exports," he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/electio ... onomy.html

[mgt23]

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9603

Same issue.....I was looking into Adam Marshall of BCC Director of Policy